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Deep sea research could save offshore workers’ lives
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Contact:
Matthew White, 604.291.3344, mwhite1@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, Media & PR, 604.291.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
Matthew White, 604.291.3344, mwhite1@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, Media & PR, 604.291.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
January 20, 2004
A new type of a re-breathing system could potentially save dozens of lives lost annually in offshore helicopter crashes in hostile marine environments, such as Canada’s North Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. They are home to numerous gas and oil drilling operations, which rely on helicopters to ferry their workers to and from ocean-bound offshore oil platforms.
North Vancouver resident Matthew White, at Simon Fraser University’s school of kinesiology, leads three national projects aimed at improving the abysmal survival rate of offshore drilling workers involved in helicopter crashes. While roughly 80 percent of such victims survive the initial crash, only about 20 percent of those survivors escape drowning.
White and his 12 research partners have discovered in experiments that survivors do not have the ability to hold their breath long enough to swim safely to the surface in most cases. White and some of his partners will assess three types of devices that could enable ditched helicopter survivors to make a successful underwater swim to the surface.
Two of the devices are modeled after the re-breathing capabilities of existing military equipment, which is not adequate for an escape from a submerged helicopter. One device is a prototype hood developed by Mustang Survival in BC. Another device is a miniature oxygen-containing scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) bottle that has an air regulator and mouthpiece. The third option would be a hybrid of the hood and the scuba bottle.
There are problems with all three options that still need to be resolved. "Claustrophobia could be a big concern with the hood and a scuba bottle would have all the challenges associated with scuba diving," explains White. "The hood wearer would have the challenge of breathing normally under stress to conserve available air, while use of the scuba bottle requires good diving technique to avoid decompression injuries."
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Website: Mustang Survival: www.mustangsurvival.com/company/
North Vancouver resident Matthew White, at Simon Fraser University’s school of kinesiology, leads three national projects aimed at improving the abysmal survival rate of offshore drilling workers involved in helicopter crashes. While roughly 80 percent of such victims survive the initial crash, only about 20 percent of those survivors escape drowning.
White and his 12 research partners have discovered in experiments that survivors do not have the ability to hold their breath long enough to swim safely to the surface in most cases. White and some of his partners will assess three types of devices that could enable ditched helicopter survivors to make a successful underwater swim to the surface.
Two of the devices are modeled after the re-breathing capabilities of existing military equipment, which is not adequate for an escape from a submerged helicopter. One device is a prototype hood developed by Mustang Survival in BC. Another device is a miniature oxygen-containing scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) bottle that has an air regulator and mouthpiece. The third option would be a hybrid of the hood and the scuba bottle.
There are problems with all three options that still need to be resolved. "Claustrophobia could be a big concern with the hood and a scuba bottle would have all the challenges associated with scuba diving," explains White. "The hood wearer would have the challenge of breathing normally under stress to conserve available air, while use of the scuba bottle requires good diving technique to avoid decompression injuries."
—30—
Website: Mustang Survival: www.mustangsurvival.com/company/